The 2016 Jr. Fair Market Poultry Show marked the return of birds to the Fayette County Fair after the bird flu stopped 2015’s exhibitors from showing.
The event began on Monday afternoon with judge Tim Bowles presiding over the show. Bowles is from Lucasville and has been judging for over 25 years, traveling to 40 states and Canada. Additionally, he is licensed through the American Poultry Association.
Addyson Butts, a first-year exhibitor to the chicken show, won the grand champion chicken during the first half of the event. She stopped to answer a few questions about her projects and 4-H experience.
“It felt good to win, I am surprised,” Butts said following the show. “I would like to thank Nichol Reiterman and Natasha Black for their help. My club is the 4-H Fun Bunch and we have a whole lot of members.”
Riley Evans, a veteran in the poultry field, took the reserve champion position with his chicken. He had some advice, as well as a few comments on his 4-H show this year.
“This year I am showing market broiler chickens, pen of three,” Evans said. “I have done this project for a few years now. This is my only project this year, so I put all of my effort into it. All of the little specific things that I worked hard on for my project so I can reach success just clicked today. All of the hard work just paid off. I would like to thank my mom and dad for all they do to support me. They are my biggest two supporters for all of my projects. The biggest thing I would say is to never give up and follow through as much as you can.”
The winners for each class were Carrie Bennett, Riley Evans, Nathan Molloy, Connor Collins, Logan Shiltz, Caleb Bennett, Chloe Lambert and Addyson Butts.
The second half of the show was for the turkey projects. Drew Black, who returned this year after not being able to show in 2015, won the grand champion turkey as the second part of the poultry wrapped up.
“I took market turkeys and I could not show last year, so this is my first year showing,” Black said following the competition. “My 4-H club is the 4-H Fun Bunch and I take poultry and rabbits. It feels really good to win.”
Abigail Riley closed the competition with a reserve champion turkey after it was found in the rule that Black’s second turkey could not be considered for reserve. A resounding cheer went through the air as they called her name.
“This is my first year showing turkeys,” Riley said. “It feels amazing to have been selected reserve, but I could not have done it without my parents and my grandma who has helped me through it all.”
The Jr. Fair Poultry Showmanship and Breeding show will be held on Wednesday beginning at 8 a.m.
